Flooding Kills Scores of People in Burundi Capital

EXTREME WEATHER AND CLIMATIC EVENTS
EXTREME RAIN EVENTS
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Deadly Flooding and Landslides Hit Burundi Capital

Flooding and landslides triggered by Extreme Rain Events in the Burundi capital of Bujumbura swept away hundreds of homes, cutting off roads, leaving many people dead or missing, and many more injured, according to officials.

“The rain that fell in torrents overnight on the capital caused a disaster,” Security Minister Nizigama told reporters.

“We have already found the bodies of 51 people killed when their houses collapsed or were swept away.”

An Extreme Rain Event , which lasted more than 10 hours overnight, caused widespread flooding, cut power to the entire city, washed away roads and destroyed crops.

“The road leading out of the capital to neighboring Rwanda was blocked because of a landslide while a bridge was washed away on the road to the Democratic Republic of Congo,” said a report.

Bujumbura (Population: ~ 900,000)is the capital, largest city, and main port of Burundi, located on the northeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika.

DR Congo Emergency

Entire Population Flee DRC Town Amid Fighting

More than 800,000 people have fled their homes since fighting began in March 2012

In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the entire population of Bunagana town, bordering Uganda, has fled fighting between government and rebel forces, residents were quoted as saying.

Fresh fighting erupted between Congolese government troops and rebel fighters, forcing about 10,000 people flee their  homes in Bunagana, the main base of the rebels called the “M23 movement” on the DR Congo-Uganda border, according to UNHCR.

New arrivals in Uganda at the Bunagana crossing point. Since Friday, more than 10,000 people have crossed through Bunagana, according to UNHCR figures. News reports said the government had captured Bunagana today, but aid workers heard sound of gunfire and explosions before leaving the border area for security reasons and before an air attack left people injured inside Uganda. Source: UNHCR/OPM

More than 56,000 Congolese from eastern provinces of the DRC have arrived in Uganda, so far this year, said UNHCR. Congolese refugees make up 65 per cent of the entire refugee population of 234,000 in Uganda alone.

“Eastern DR Congo has been wracked by conflict since 1994, when Hutu militias fled across the border from Rwanda after carrying out a genocide against Tutsis and moderate Hutus,” said a report.

Located in central Africa, DRC is the largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa the 11th largest country in the world, with an area of 2,345,409 km², and has a population of about 75 million.

The Second Congo War has devastated the country since 1998. The war also known as the “African world war” has involved nine countries and more than twenty armed groups.

Democratic Republic of Congo on Fire

Slash-and-burn fires in Democratic Republic of Congo

MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image on May 13, 2010, after detecting  hundreds of fires (red dots) in southern Democratic Republic of Congo and northeastern Angola.  More than half of the GDP  of Democratic Republic of Congo comes from the agriculture sector, and fire is a pivotal part of agriculture across most of Africa. People burn crop residue to clear fields after harvest, and they burn forest and other natural vegetation to clear new land for farming. Image and Caption NASA/EO. [Edited for brevity and accuracy.] Click image to enlarge. Download large image (5 MB, JPEG)

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